Ginger Paste Substitute

Ginger is a key ingredient in many cuisines. Ginger paste is the perfect substitute for those who cannot tolerate working with ginger or have allergies and want to cook with its flavor.

The easiest way to replace ginger paste is by using either fresh or frozen ginger in your dish depending on the recipe’s instructions.

Ginger paste is a great way to add some ginger flavor to your next recipe. But what if you don’t have any ginger paste? Below are a few substitutes that you can use.

There is no perfect substitute except for using fresh ginger itself. It really has a flavor that you can not duplicate with something else.

1. Fresh Ground Ginger

To replace ginger paste, you can use freshly ground ginger and essentially make your own paste. It’s very easy to do and gives you the same great taste profile that you are trying to achieve.

Grate some fresh ginger on a fine grater, a zester, or even a Microplane and add in a little bit of olive oil to turn it into more of a paste-like consistency.

Check out my post on How to cut ginger.

The texture will be fairly close to ginger paste and maybe not even noticeably different to most people.

Grating your own fresh ginger may take on a bit of a stronger flavor so you will want to go a little lighter than the recipe asks. I always go by the saying “you can always add more but you can’t take it back out”.

2. Minced Ginger

Minced ginger is also a great alternative to ginger paste. The robust flavor will show up in your dish for sure. Chop up fresh ginger very finely and use that as your recipe asks.

You can also add a little bit of oil to your minced ginger just as you would if you grated it, making it more paste consistency.

Something to remember here is that the pieces of minced ginger might really come out in a bite as it won’t be blending into the dish as a paste will dissolve and not be chunky.

Also, learn how to peel ginger.

3. Crystallized Ginger

Crystallized ginger is ginger sliced, cooked in sugar water, and then rolled in sugar to give it a candied taste.

If you happened to have this on hand but not ginger paste you could use 1 tablespoon of crystallized or candied ginger for every 1/8 teaspoon of ginger paste.

Because it has been cooked and rolled in sugar the strong ginger flavor has diminished quite a bit. Chop them up as finely as you can and add them to your recipe.

The taste might not be the same as the recipe but you will have a hint of the ginger taste.

4. Ginger powder

You would think that ginger powder would be a great go-to as a replacement for ginger paste if that is all you have on hand but it turns out it isn’t.

Yes, you will get a ginger taste but it is much different than fresh ginger. Ginger powder gives you less of a spicy flavor whereas ginger paste or fresh ginger will give you that strong robust flavor.

The natural oils in fresh ginger bring out a strong flavor and when it gets dried the flavor profile loses its kick.

For more information about how to store ginger see my post here.

What is Ginger Paste?

Ginger is a rhizome that can be used to make a paste for cooking or baking. It is used in a lot of Asian and Indian cuisine which can be found at grocery stores, specialty markets, or on the internet.

Ginger paste is typically fresh ginger blended with oil. Ginger itself has a pretty distinct strong flavor. It is great as a paste for ease and texture in your recipe.

If your buying the paste, make sure the ginger has not gone bad.